Forecasting

Logsteer Order Forecasting feature calculates the possible completion date of an Order based on several factors:

• Normatives defined for each Product transition in each step of Order Flow.
• Normatives defined for each production Task in each step of Order Flow.
• Employees' working hours and timeshifts.
• Work units (Machines) and their availability.
• Employee availability and allocation via Position assignments.
• Order priority.

The Order Forecasting feature improves accuracy in Order completion estimates, enhances resource allocation, and increases operational efficiency, leading to better productivity and reduced costs. It also boosts customer satisfaction by setting realistic expectations and delivering on promised deadlines. Overall, it provides valuable insights for informed decision-making and gives businesses a competitive advantage through reliable performance.

To ensure the forecasting feature works correctly, follow these steps:

• Define Employee Working Hours:
  • 1. Go to Administration -> Employees.
  • 2. Open an employee record and input the start and end hours for each day of the week.
• Define Working Units:
  • 1. Go to Administration -> Working Units.
  • 2. Define each work unit's name and assign one or more employee positions eligible to work on that work unit.
• Define Normatives: Normatives are defined in each Order Flow step.
  For transitions: - Define normatives only if:

  1. Warehouse management is turned off.

  2. Warehouse management is on, and Take from warehouse is selected.

  3. If Reserve quantity is selected, the normative defaults to a fixed time of 15 minutes.
  • 1. To forecast a particular transition step, you can optionally use work units by toggling them on and assigning one or more units to perform the step.
  • 2. The final and most crucial step is to set the unit's expected duration. This applies to product types on one work unit for a single unit of measure (normative).
  For Order Tasks, simply input the expected duration.

To successfully use the forecasting feature, ensure the following conditions are met:

• Normatives are defined for all steps: - A warning is issued if not all normatives are defined (regardless of whether it is an task or transition), requiring normatives for all steps.
• No assigned positions combines with work unites: - Check is made if there are no assigned positions combined with work unites, which will result in an error. (assuming the forecasting module is enabled and the associated flow in the order is valid with all steps forecasted).
• Employee without defined working hours: - If there is a position or work unit used and has an employee without defined working hours, forecasting will return error.
• Order line item lacks quantity: - If any line item lacks quantity - forecasting will not work.
• No work unit or the work unit does not have the corresponding position: - If there is no work unit or the work unit does not have the corresponding position in the flow step (position mismatch) - forecast will hard stop and return error.

Using the forecasting feature is simple:

• 1: Create an Order and optionally itemize it.
• 2: Press the Forecast button.
• 3: A new modal window will open, showing the expected Order finish time.
• 4: The window will also display a pipeline for each Order in separate colors.
• 5: The Order number is shown, along with which task should be done on which work unit and by whichemployee .
  Press button Set to automatically set forecasted date to Order!